Shanghai Shenhua vs Tianjin Quanjian Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Shanghai Shenhua got off to a good start last weekend as they hammered Jiangus Suning 4-0 at home, with new landmark signing Carlos Tevez earning some of his astronomical wages with two assists and a goal on his league debut.

Their campaign didn’t start there though. They were also involved in the Asian Champions League back in February, with a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Brisbane Roar seeing them miss out on the group stages. Now, after opting for the big name import instead of some more frugal domestic signings, they face a struggle to match last season’s finish with a squad lacking in overall quality.

Tianjin Quanjian certainly can’t be accused of recruiting poorly this winter. They won the Chinese League One last year under Fabio Cannavaro, and in a bid to stay in the top flight they have splashed the cash on the likes of Axel Witsel and Alexandre Pato from Europe, but have also brought in some more local talent in  Yongpo Wang and Kyung-Won Kwon in the centre of the park.

This didn’t seem to pay off last weekend as they were beaten 2-0 by Guangzhou R&F in their Chinese Super League opener, although in fairness it was a much more evenly matched game than the scoreline suggests.

Either way Shanghai Shenhua are resting all their chances of a good season in the top flight on their big name signings, and they will undoubtedly take a little bit of time to adapt to the Chinese game.

Shanghai Shenhua have plenty of big names themselves, and on the evidence of last weekend, Giovanni Moreno is still performing for them. He scored twice last weekend and nine league goals last term, so backing him to score anytime looks the best option for our goalscorer predictions.

I think we can expect goals here. Shanghai Shenhua have seen Over 2.5 Goals in 11 of their last 12 home games in the Chinese Super League, and their attack has strengthened in the off-season, whilst their defence has remained largely unchanged. This makes odds of 17/20 for Over 2.5 Goals look a good value offering, so I’m going for that along with a 3-1 correct score predictions at 12/1.